Preity Zinta: Lesser known facts

Preity Zinta hosted a grand wedding reception in Mumbai to introduce her husband Gene Goodenough to her Bollywood friends. Since then, the dimpled actress has made some appearances with her darling hubby. However, very little is known of their love story. Luckily for her fans, the ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ actress let in on their love story during her first Facebook live chat on then where she opened up on her future projects, and of course, Gene Goodenough. When one of her fans asked her when she first met Gene, Preity spilled the beans saying, “I met him in Santa Monica in Los Angeles. Then we dated for five years and we finally got married.” Of course, funny as always, Preity jokingly added, “I am not going to tell you the details.”

Karan Johar's Diwali release 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' created ripples in the web world with its beautiful cinematography. Within hours of its release on the internet, gifs and memes from the trailer became viral. Now when all of that is happening, one gets the hint that the characters and the film is indeed shot brilliantly. For the very first time, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is seen in a different light and you can't help falling for her in each frame. So just like us, even celebrities get mesmerized by fellow stars. Preity Zinta was no different when she tweeted, "Hey @juniorbachchan Happy Ganesh Chaturthi I'm watching the #Aedilhaimushkil promo in a loop & I think I have a girl crush on Ash�� #bachaao." To which Abhishek Bachchan's response was, "@realpreityzinta Oye!!! Hands off Z! She's spoken for." We all feel the same way Mr Bachchan!

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No wedding bells for Preity Zinta anytime soon!

The gossip mills were abuzz with rumours that Preity Zinta will be soon getting married to her alleged American boyfriend Gene Goodenough. However, the actress took to Twitter to clarify that she will not be tying the knot anytime soon. She tweeted saying, "Also It's getting a bit weird telling people that I'm not getting married in January. I don't want to hear this word or have this discussion for another year at least... Plssssss." She also went ahead and promised her fans that she will inform everyone when she decides to tie the knot.

Read on to know why Preity Zinta was scared of Salman Khan...

Why was Preity Zinta scared of Salman Khan?

Preity Zinta recently completed 17 years in Bollywood and on this special occasion, the bubbly actress took to Twitter to chat with her fans. During the chat, Preity reminisced her old days and revealed some secrets. About working with Shah Rukh Khan, Preity wrote, “The only actor who can make me cry at the drop of a hat in an emotion scene is @iamsrk omg ! I have cried in soooo many scenes with him”. [sic] Much to everyone’s surprise, Preity even revealed that she was scared of working with Salman Khan. She wrote, "The only actor I used to be scared of before I worked with him was @BeingSalmanKhan I don't know why but I was". [sic] However, Salman and Preity share a good rapport today.

While Preity has divulged secrets from the past, read on to know why even the best looking guy won’t work for her…

'The best looking guy with money & style without manners is actually a big turn off'

Preity Zinta apparently loves interacting with her fans on social media and chooses a topic of discussion to debate on. This time, she chose ‘Manners and etiquette in life and on social media’ as a topic of discussion with her Twitter followers on August 9. A man who may be good-looking, have money and style but lacks etiquette and good manners, is a turn-off for actress Preity Zinta, who believes good conduct is as essential on virtual platforms as in real life. In a series of tweets, the actress wrote, "A simple PLEASE or THANK YOU can go a long way in life. The best looking guy with money & style without manners is actually a big turn off. Manners don't belong 2the rich or 2the poor but2 the1 whose parents have spent time on his or her upbringing. Good Upbringing = Good Manners. I think the biggest reason kids are losing their etiquette & manners is because of the growing "maid" culture in India. Maids are not very educated in India & since parents don't have that much time the kids end up spending most of their time with the maids. Therefore a lot of the upbringing of kids ends up from the maid instead of the parents. They look, they see & they absorb. That's my theory." [sic]

Check out as to why had Preity filed a case against her ex...

The peppy actress had been in the news for her complaint against former boyfriend, businessman and Kings XI Punjab co owner Ness Wadia. Preity alleged that her ex molested, abused and threatened her inside the Wankhede stadium during an IPL match between Kings XI Punjab the Chennai Super Kings. Preity even took to social media to speak her mind and wrote a long note to express her feelings. The actress has also been in the news in the past year for her film 'Ishq In Paris' that faced a lot of hurdles before its release. As we look at Preity Zinta's life, here are a few lesser known facts about the actress who once dominated the box-office and made her mark in Bollywood through sheer hard work!

Preity faced a personal tragedy when her father, Durganand Zinta, an officer in the Indian Army was involved in a car crash when Preity was only 13. He passed away and her mother, Nilprabha Zinta, who was also in the car, became bedridden. She has two brothers, out of which one is an officer in the Indian Army. Preity herself narrowly escaped death twice: both times in the year 2004. Once after a Temptation concert in Colombo in 2004 and the second time in December 2004 when Preity was vacationing in Thailand and tragedy struck when the Tsunami swept Thailand and its popular tourists spots, claiming many lives. According to a report in The Times of India, the actress was quoted saying, "I wrote down all the things that I have in life to be grateful about and it was quite a long list."

She is a major fan of the hit TV series, The Simpsons. Was the original choice for the film 'Marigold' which also starred Salman Khan. But Ali Larter stepped in to play the character. Preity is very close to her Koi Mil Gaya co star Hrithik Roshan and interestingly, she was supposed to make her debut opposite him in Tara Rum Pum Pum but it got shelved. She is not a follower of any religion in particular. According to her interview in The Times of India, Zinta was quoted saying, "I believe in good deeds, in karma, I don't believe in going to temples. For me, religion is very personal. It's all about having faith ... We have heard and read that all religions are equal. Now I am increasingly believing in this."

She was a complete tomboy growing up and was fond of literature and the works of Shakespeare. An entrepreneur actress and activist, Preity has never been afraid to speak her mind. During the 2003 Bharat Shah controversy where some Bollywood celebs were dragged into it, Preity was the only witness not to retract her statements in court against the mafia. Her bravery did not go unnoticed and she was awarded the Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Award. She was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of East London in 2010.

In 2004, Preity joined a group of South Asian commentators for BBC News Online where she wrote several columns and her first was titled, "The changing face of Bollywood". She went on to write columns like "Odds stacked against Indian women" and Facing death in Sri Lanka and Thailand where she spoke about her Tsunami experience. An activist at heart, Preity has spoken against female infanticide, has been involved in AIDS awareness drives and was also a part of campaigns to clean Mumbai with former beau Ness Wadia where Preity took to the streets to clean the city up. Preity also adopted 34 girls from the Mother Miracle orphanage in Rishikesh in 2009 where she took up the responsibility to give financial aid to these girls by providing them with food, education and clothing.

She is also good friends with SRK and his wife, Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan. Was said to be very close to her father and loved him dearly. Her favourite dish is said to be kadi chawal and the actress digs ice creams. Her idols include Guru Dutt, Madhubala, Waheeda Rehman and Sridevi from Bollywood and Al Pacino from Hollywood. Was appointed as an Ambassador for the Loomba Trust which works for the welfare of widows and their children. Preity was also the Indian Goodwill Ambasaador of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Was the youngest owner to own an IPL team as of 2009 and all the partners reportedly paid $76 million to acquire the franchise. This also included ex-boyfriend and businessman Ness Wadia. At this year's IPL final match between Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders, Preity accused Ness of allegedly molesting her and filed a case against him. Was allegedly linked to former model Marc Robinson and was dragged into a controversy by singer Suchitra Krishnamurthy who alleged that she split from husband Shekhar Kapur because of Preity. She issued a statement claiming the accuses to be false.